Interview | Tea in the Tree Organisers

We chatted to the organisers Troy Evason & Max Kibble of Cape Town’s newest festival to hit the MyCityByNight calendar, Tea in the Tree. We got chatting about the festival, what it stands & what we can expect at the very first Tea in the Tree multi-genre festival in Ridgemore Estate.

MCBN: Thanks for taking the time to chat with us & giving us a better understanding of Tea in the Tree is and what you guys have got planned. First of all, a little introduction; who are you and what do you do?

We are Troy Evason & Maximilian Kibble, the guys behind the techno & progressive day party brand Into the Wild Experience, and now the multi-genre festival of playfulness, Tea in the Tree.

MCBN: Tell us, where did the idea come from, as we all remember that quaint and lovely little dancefloor at Into The Wild at Slaley Estate. Where did the idea for this multi-genre stage come from?

I think it was a result of our time spent in Berlin that summer, from going to see Alice Phoebe Lou perform in Mauerpark on a Sunday, to attending festivals such as Uckeralm, where we met Diamond Thug. We were constantly surrounded by this amazing mixture of sounds, both acoustic and electronic. Many nights we found ourselves in places such Sisyphos or Watergate dancing to Detroit tech-house god, Moodymann, or the magician of soulful electronica, Dave Dk, and in these moments it all just made sense, hearing amazing busking performances in the day and these fire electronic acts at night.

Berlin as a city is a boiling pot of so many different flavours, and if you are open to beautiful music it can be truly special. So the acoustic garden stage was our representation of that summer we spent there, a coming together of unique music in an egoless environment with the intention simply to bring people together and have a good time.

MCBN: What made you guys decide to give this stage its own life and allow it to become a festival in its own right?

The reception we got from the acoustic garden stage is what lead to the discussion, that coupled with the fact that we have redefined the Into the Wild Experience brand as techno and progressive psytrance based only, meant naturally it was time to give this idea its own wings. We believe the concept deserves to have it’s own location, theme, and brand, and now it has just that.

MCBN: What is the ethos of Tea in the Tree?

Tea in the Tree is a festival revolving around fun and the dissolving of boundaries between subtly different musical tastes. We aim to create an honest space devoid of pretence, in the most beautiful of locations, with carefully crafted lineups, and the cheekiest crowd around. We want to make magic together!

MCBN: You’ve launched with an incredibly strong line up of live musicians, can you tell us the lineup process and how you pick your artists?

Firstly, we wanted to create a platform for local talent to thrive, so when constructing the most recent musical ensemble, that’s exactly where we looked. We are music obsessed, it’s something we’ve accepted a long time ago. I don’t think you can walk into either of our homes and not hear something playing, so don’t you worry, if anyone is half decent we’ve most probably listened to them.

For the next Tea in the Tree line up we have gone for a healthy balance of the most well established talents, such as Felix Laband, The Sean Koch Trio, James Copeland & Pierre Estienne, all legends in their own right, and some of the most exciting musical maestros we’ve right across in the recent times such as Astrafunk & the Space Cats, Bam Bam Brown & Atelier.

MCBN: Where do you see Tea in the Tree in 5 years time?

We have a lot of ambitions for all our projects but prefer not to give anything away before it actually, comes to fruition. Nothing worse than that guy who says I’m going to the Himalayas next week to find true enlightenment, ‘wish we luck’, then a month later you see him in the Vredehoek spar trying to hustle extra feta in his build your own salad, yeah that ain’t us, if we say we going to do it, best believe we going to do it.

So we are excited about the future, this first step from alternate second stage to being its own day festival with a fresh identity has felt natural, and we will endeavour to stay along this path of natural progression.

MCBN: The venue, Ridgemor Villa, is a new venue on the circuit. What can we expect? You’ve become known as a brand that only provides the most beautiful venues for your audience. Let us in on what we can expect at Tea in the Tree?

The venue is ideal for the experience we creating for our audience, it has a large lush lawn with a few scattered trees providing natural shade. There is a pool to cool off in the summer heat, and even a bar inside the pool. The guesthouse is just above the festival space, and where rooms will be available to rent, all rooms include festival tickets for those staying in the guesthouse, and breakfast on Sunday. These rooms are very limited, so watch out for when they get released.

MCBN: Any last words from you guys to the partygoers?

You ready to go on a rollercoaster of sonic mischief with us my little magic makers?

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Rumoured to have the blue-prints for Krang’s TechnoDrome, stolen straight from Dimension X, he’s the type of guy who exudes so much coolness that he adds whole countries on Facebook at one time instead of just people.
Always up for a party and a Tequila shot or two this is the guy who we always call first, both before and after a night out…

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